<p>Afghan businessman Shoaib Barak is struggling to pay his workers and suppliers, unable to access funds from a banking system crippled by the freezing of the nation's overseas assets.</p>.<p>They, in turn, can't pay their bills -- and so the country's economic woes trickle down and hurt everyone along an unbroken chain of misery.</p>.<p>"I feel very ashamed," said Barak, who until recently employed some 200 people across the country -- mostly in his construction business.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/un-extends-exemption-of-travel-ban-on-afghan-taliban-leaders-1064504.html">UN extends exemption of travel ban on Afghan Taliban leaders</a></strong></p>.<p>"For me, for every Afghan, it's really disgusting. I do not even have the ability to pay salaries for my staff."</p>.<p>To avoid giving the Taliban access to Afghanistan's reserves, Washington froze an estimated $10 billion held by the central bank abroad after the hardline Islamists seized power on August 15.</p>.<p>Equating to around half what the country's economy produced last year, that move, in turn, starved banks used by Afghan businesses and citizens of access to dollars.</p>.<p>Even if limited funds were released, the bulk could be tied up in the American legal system for years while subject to claims by victims of September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda attacks on the US.</p>.<p>Ordinarily, the reserves could be dipped into to pay overdue government bills and development projects, but the freeze has trickled down to the rest of the economy.</p>.<p>"Just release the reserves," Barak pleaded.</p>.<p>"If you have a problem with... the Taliban, don't take revenge on the nation, the people."</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/40-of-afghan-media-outlets-shut-since-taliban-takeover-1064180.html" target="_blank">40% of Afghan media outlets shut since Taliban takeover</a></strong></p>.<p>Barak's cash flow crisis illustrates the problems faced by tens of thousands of Afghans who simply can't access most of their money.</p>.<p>He says he has around $3 million tied up in Afghan banks -- money earned over the years from lucrative private and government contracts, which were paid in dollars as aid poured into the public purse under the pre-Taliban regime.</p>.<p>But with local banks limiting weekly withdrawals to five per cent of a business account's balance -- up to a maximum of $5,000 -- Barak is months behind on both invoices and salaries to his staff.</p>.<p>Ahmad Zia is one of them.</p>.<p>The 55-year-old engineer was earning 60,000 Afghanis per month -- equivalent to $770 before the Taliban took over and the currency plunged 25 per cent.</p>.<p>Four months later, Zia is struggling to make ends meet and fears his once comfortably-off family of six will only "eat one or two times" per day.</p>.<p>It isn't just Barak's employees who are suffering.</p>.<p>Ehsanullah Maroof's now-defunct law business relied heavily on a monthly retainer from Barak's construction company.</p>.<p>"The kids went to a very good school," he told <em>AFP</em>, noting proudly that his nine-year-old daughter Rana topped her year.</p>.<p>But now he can't afford the right medicine for an epileptic son, and Rana has been expelled because the family can't pay school fees.</p>.<p>The misery trickles down even further -- to the Maroof family maid, who is now jobless.</p>.<p>Gulha, 42, earned 8,000 Afghanis a month and was the main breadwinner in her seven-strong family.</p>.<p>Now she is two months behind on rent and running out of food.</p>.<p>"I have 14 kilogrammes (30 pounds) of rice, 20-21 kilogrammes of flour and some oil," she told <em>AFP</em> in a one-room apartment where she allows neighbours to share the nightly warmth of a wood-burner as winter descends.</p>.<p>"It will last 10 days."</p>.<p>Once that is gone she will join millions of her compatriots who are utterly dependent on aid.</p>.<p>The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a US resolution to help humanitarian aid reach desperate Afghans while seeking to keep funds out of Taliban hands -- a move welcomed by the Islamists as a "good step".</p>.<p>But whether enough cash arrives to contain the unfolding humanitarian disaster ultimately still depends on "the viability of the banking system", said Hanna Luchnikava-Schorsch, Principal Asia Pacific economist at IHS Markit.</p>.<p>Many Afghan banks are "pretty close to collapse", she told <em>AFP</em>, and overseas institutions will probably be "terrified" of falling foul of sanctions despite the UN resolution.</p>.<p>For many ordinary Afghans, any relief will come too late.</p>.<p>International organisations warn one million Afghan children could die this winter, Barak notes.</p>.<p>"Who do you think will be blamed -- the Taliban, or the US?"</p>.<p><strong>Check out the latest videos from <i data-stringify-type="italic">DH</i>:</strong></p>
<p>Afghan businessman Shoaib Barak is struggling to pay his workers and suppliers, unable to access funds from a banking system crippled by the freezing of the nation's overseas assets.</p>.<p>They, in turn, can't pay their bills -- and so the country's economic woes trickle down and hurt everyone along an unbroken chain of misery.</p>.<p>"I feel very ashamed," said Barak, who until recently employed some 200 people across the country -- mostly in his construction business.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/un-extends-exemption-of-travel-ban-on-afghan-taliban-leaders-1064504.html">UN extends exemption of travel ban on Afghan Taliban leaders</a></strong></p>.<p>"For me, for every Afghan, it's really disgusting. I do not even have the ability to pay salaries for my staff."</p>.<p>To avoid giving the Taliban access to Afghanistan's reserves, Washington froze an estimated $10 billion held by the central bank abroad after the hardline Islamists seized power on August 15.</p>.<p>Equating to around half what the country's economy produced last year, that move, in turn, starved banks used by Afghan businesses and citizens of access to dollars.</p>.<p>Even if limited funds were released, the bulk could be tied up in the American legal system for years while subject to claims by victims of September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda attacks on the US.</p>.<p>Ordinarily, the reserves could be dipped into to pay overdue government bills and development projects, but the freeze has trickled down to the rest of the economy.</p>.<p>"Just release the reserves," Barak pleaded.</p>.<p>"If you have a problem with... the Taliban, don't take revenge on the nation, the people."</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/40-of-afghan-media-outlets-shut-since-taliban-takeover-1064180.html" target="_blank">40% of Afghan media outlets shut since Taliban takeover</a></strong></p>.<p>Barak's cash flow crisis illustrates the problems faced by tens of thousands of Afghans who simply can't access most of their money.</p>.<p>He says he has around $3 million tied up in Afghan banks -- money earned over the years from lucrative private and government contracts, which were paid in dollars as aid poured into the public purse under the pre-Taliban regime.</p>.<p>But with local banks limiting weekly withdrawals to five per cent of a business account's balance -- up to a maximum of $5,000 -- Barak is months behind on both invoices and salaries to his staff.</p>.<p>Ahmad Zia is one of them.</p>.<p>The 55-year-old engineer was earning 60,000 Afghanis per month -- equivalent to $770 before the Taliban took over and the currency plunged 25 per cent.</p>.<p>Four months later, Zia is struggling to make ends meet and fears his once comfortably-off family of six will only "eat one or two times" per day.</p>.<p>It isn't just Barak's employees who are suffering.</p>.<p>Ehsanullah Maroof's now-defunct law business relied heavily on a monthly retainer from Barak's construction company.</p>.<p>"The kids went to a very good school," he told <em>AFP</em>, noting proudly that his nine-year-old daughter Rana topped her year.</p>.<p>But now he can't afford the right medicine for an epileptic son, and Rana has been expelled because the family can't pay school fees.</p>.<p>The misery trickles down even further -- to the Maroof family maid, who is now jobless.</p>.<p>Gulha, 42, earned 8,000 Afghanis a month and was the main breadwinner in her seven-strong family.</p>.<p>Now she is two months behind on rent and running out of food.</p>.<p>"I have 14 kilogrammes (30 pounds) of rice, 20-21 kilogrammes of flour and some oil," she told <em>AFP</em> in a one-room apartment where she allows neighbours to share the nightly warmth of a wood-burner as winter descends.</p>.<p>"It will last 10 days."</p>.<p>Once that is gone she will join millions of her compatriots who are utterly dependent on aid.</p>.<p>The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a US resolution to help humanitarian aid reach desperate Afghans while seeking to keep funds out of Taliban hands -- a move welcomed by the Islamists as a "good step".</p>.<p>But whether enough cash arrives to contain the unfolding humanitarian disaster ultimately still depends on "the viability of the banking system", said Hanna Luchnikava-Schorsch, Principal Asia Pacific economist at IHS Markit.</p>.<p>Many Afghan banks are "pretty close to collapse", she told <em>AFP</em>, and overseas institutions will probably be "terrified" of falling foul of sanctions despite the UN resolution.</p>.<p>For many ordinary Afghans, any relief will come too late.</p>.<p>International organisations warn one million Afghan children could die this winter, Barak notes.</p>.<p>"Who do you think will be blamed -- the Taliban, or the US?"</p>.<p><strong>Check out the latest videos from <i data-stringify-type="italic">DH</i>:</strong></p>